New Exoneration Registry Brings Back Memories of Haeling Murder

Editor's note: After publishing this column, I received a phone call from a reader concerned that it dredged up painful memories for the victims' families. To the Salmons and Haelings, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences for everything that happened 14 years ago. I apologize for any bad memories this column may have rekindled.

It'd been years since the name Riley Haeling entered my mind. Though I never really knew him personally, I knew of him. It seemed like everyone at did. And if they didn't know of him yet, they soon would.

Most people in my class of 1999 now know the story well - maybe some better than others:

It was October of 1998, at about 2:30 a.m. Three armed men burst into a middle-class home in Fair Oaks. The family living there grew marijuana and many people knew about it, including the three men. The men searched the home, finding a 15-year-old girl who lived there, Jennifer Salmon. She wasn't alone, though. With her was 18-year-old Patrick Riley Haeling.

All I knew about Haeling, I learned from one of my best friends. Haeling was friends with her and her family. She described him as a good guy, someone who worked with disabled children. At any rate, Haeling was a best friend to Salmon's older brother. She and Haeling, were by virtue, also very close.

This is where my knowledge of that night gets a little fuzzy, so I'll recount what's known about it, based on media reports. When the three men burst into Salmon's room demanding she hand over the marijuana, an altercation ensued, resulting in shots fired. Salmon was hit in the stomach. Haeling jumped into Salmon's line of fire. His body was riddled with five gunshots. He wouldn't survive.

The memory of that night was brought back into full contrast Sunday, May 20, when the L.A. Times published a story reported how more than 2,000 people have been freed from prison since 1989 after they were found to have been wrongly convicted of serious crimes, according to a new Exonerations database compiled by University of Michigan Law School and Northwestern University. Included in the database was David Jonathan Quindt, the man, at the time, thought to have been responsible for the death of Haeling.

According to the database report, months after the crime, 21-year-old David Quindt was implicated as a suspect by a fellow gang member, John Anderson. I had never even heard of Anderson, but again, most of my friends knew him. Anderson claimed he had provided Quindt with two guns the day before the shooting, one of which matched the caliber of the gun used at the scene of the crime. Quindt was arrested in mid-February, 1999.

When everyone at school heard the news that someone had been arrested in the murder of Haeling, the attempted murder of Salmon and the robbery of her home, buzz around campus was electric. It seemed like everyone was talking about it. Rumors and misinformation swirled. But when we finally heard it was Quindt, it seemed like that chapter had closed; everyone could move on and allow the healing process to begin.

It was May of 2000 now and my class had graduated when news landed on my Fair Oaks clique like a ton of bricks: Quindt had been released. Why? At the time, I hadn't the foggiest idea. Remember, these were the days before everyone was using Google. The company had only just been founded less than two years prior. The idea of readily available information was still catching on, so of course rumors swirled. In fact, most the rumors I heard were so outrageous ("He escaped from prison!"), it only behooved me to find out for myself. I did the sensible thing: I read a newspaper.

It turned out Quindt had been released and had even received monetary compensation for his time served. Moreover, three others had been implicated and arrested. Controversy surrounding the case ensued.

Here's how the database recounts the story:

Before Quindt was sentenced, an informant –  motivated by a $10,000 reward offered by the Haeling family – contacted investigators and implicated three other individuals in the crime. Further investigation led to the identification of the real criminals and eventually all three were convicted. Quindt was released from jail on May 22, 2000, and on the same day the district attorney’s office moved to vacate the conviction on the ground that the real criminals had been identified. He received $17,200 in compensation for his incarceration from the State of California.

The three individuals were later identified as John Leon Fjelstad, David Trujillo and Ronald Werth, all 20-years-old.

I can't believe it's been 14 years. Rehashing the night with my best friend has conjured feelings and memories I had long forgotten. Most the friends I had at the time I hardly talk to anymore. The ones I do keep in touch with, including my friends mentioned here, are ones I'll likely remain friends with forever. And even though, we don't talk as often as we used to, when I have to call them and remind them of sad facts none of us truly wish to rehash, the conversation ends with promises for dinner plans and good conversation.

So why rehash it at all? Maybe in a way, it's cathartic. I'm finally able express these pent up emotions I long forgot I even had (and trust me, they exist - even for a guy who hardly knew Haeling). After all, things like this hardly happen in Fair Oaks. When they do, people naturally react in ways maybe even they couldn't foresee. For my friends and I, it brought us closer together. It reminded us, that terrible things can and do happen, even in the most ideal of places. Now, 14 years later, it is still bringing us closer together.

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